April 13

Amritsar Massacre — British Troops Fire on Indian Crowd

British Brigadier Reginald Dyer ordered troops to fire on an unarmed crowd of thousands gathered in the enclosed Jallianwala Bagh garden for a peaceful protest, killing at least 379 people and wounding over 1,200. The crowd had no way to escape.

The Amritsar Massacre destroyed British moral authority in India and transformed Gandhi's Indian National Congress from a moderate petitioner into a mass independence movement.